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Monday, April 30, 2012

Not Quite Ready

This past weekend I went down to run the Promise Land 50K.
Normally, I would have been very excited to compete in a race like this – a
long, semi-technical trail run, a healthy amount of gain and decent; with a
field of some of the fastest East coast runners. However, due to injury I have
not raced all year and knew I was in no shape to compete, but since I have been
back running for several weeks I wanted to gauge where my fitness and health
were. It was also my 30th B-day and I thought running 30+ miles would
be a fun way to celebrate. I emailed Dr. Horton on Tuesday and he was kind
enough to let me in, as well as seeding me with bib #8.

I got to the Promise Land Camp Friday night and had a good
time chatting with many running friends. Exchanging stories, talking of future
plans and of course the race the next day – would the mountains break the
superfast marathoner, will experience triumph over pure speed? The next day would reveal the answer as Eric
Grossman surpassed 2:19 marathoner Kalib Wilkinson on the final ascent and
broke the course record by 5 minutes! I was just happy to be there and
figured even if my injury didn’t rear its ugly head, my lack of training would
come back to bite me at some point. So with that, I was looking forward to the
pleasure found in running in the mountains and yes even the pain from sore
calves and trashed quads. After a night of very little sleep in my tent, I got
up the next morning ready to run – for the first time sporting my PR Racing
Team singletJ

At 5:30 AM we were off. The pace was very fast starting out
for the first 4 miles of climbing. Eric, Kalib and one other runner took off
to the front. I felt pretty good on the climb, and tucked in behind Shaun Pope
to take advantage of his headlamp during the first 30 or so minutes of
darkness. After the climb, the sun had come up and I was really enjoying
running as quickly the 10+ minute/mile pace on the climb turned into sub-7s.
Neal Gorman and a few other runners caught up to me coming into the second aid
station before mile 10. At this point my legs where holding up OK and I thought
the rest of the day would unfold quite well. Then I hit the down hills….

My left leg, specifically the hip flexor and adductor began
to flare up, ugh! The last time this happened (at Stone Mill) I ran another 20+
miles through the pain and caused extreme inflammation that kept me from racing
for months. I had promised my doctor and more importantly my wife that I would
bail if the pain came back. All this was starting to weigh on my mind as I came
into the third aid around mile 13, and before the long descent back down the
mountain. Heading down the trail I quickly accepted the reality that the pain
was not just soreness from lack of running and the more I tried to run, the
worse it was getting. I slowed considerably, and eventually decided to just
walk it out rather than risk any additional damage. Many runners began to pass
me with offers of help and asking if I was OK – it is hard to answer this
accurately and politely “no I am not OK, but you can’t help unless you have
magical healing power.” At least the trail was beautiful and I even stopped at
a bridge for awhile to watch as the water flowed down the mountain and over the
rocks. Realizing the simplicity of nature that triggers complexity and relating
it to life. Aspects of life that at the core are very simple become quite
complex and so often we lose focus on what is important. We live, we love and
we die. It is the middle that determines nearly every aspect of who we are. What
you love (your wife, children, running, a career)? How you love (giving your
time, devotion, attention)? A person can lose everything, and still be content
as long as they have love. I see this even more as my boys get older and I remember
what it was like when I was a child and realize that I am the man I am today because
of the love I have been shown and have shown as well. I guess turning thirty
has made me even more introspective. To relate this to running – I love to run
and in order to continue to do what I love I need to make the appropriate
decisions to ensure that I don’t jeopardize running in the long term in order
to meet short term aspirations. My musings were quickly snapped back to reality
as a runner passed with a confused look of “why is this person staring at a
river in the middle of a race?” I soon returned to my walk and made it to the
aid station. Dr. Horton quickly handed me some ibuprofen and encourage me to
get going until I explained my injury and quipped that the last mile took
longer than my average 10KL

I caught a ride back to the camp with one of the radio crew
members and got there in time to see the top guys finish. Then I headed back
home making it just in time for my own birthday party. As I write this a couple
days later I am again pain free, but I will be giving it even more time. Even a
few months ago, I likely would have headed out the door the minute I started to
feel better, but I have learned a lot from the injury that will hopefully make
me a better and smarter runner in the future. Although I was not able to
finish, I am glad I was able to go and run for the time that I did. I was also
able to gauge where I am and how far I still have to go to get over this.

Up next – I am not quite sure. I am very disappointed that
MMT looks to be out of the picture. I really like MMT and was hoping that I
would at least be healthy enough to finish it even if I couldn’t compete. I’ll
still be out there, but as a volunteer or maybe a pacer helping others achieve their
goals. Hopefully, I can resume training soon and start racing again in June.
Maybe the North Face 50 or Laurel Highlands. For now I am just going to
continue to take it one day at a time.

I know what you mean about other runners coming upon you walking and trying to offer help/sympathy -- I've been there a couple times. I notice you didn't mention the tour de appalachia among your summer options -- hopefully that was a temporary oversight!